Shibukawa Yoshimitsu (渋川義満)
Yoshimitsu SHIBUKAWA (year of birth unknown - March 30, 1573) was a Japanese military commander who lived during the Sengoku period (period of Warring States). His original surname was Minamoto. The Shibukawa clan was from Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan), and they were a branch family of the Ashikaga clan who was descended from Kawachi-Genji. They were one of the Ashikaga Shogun families. Yoshimitsu was the lord of Shodoyama-jo Castle in Bingo Province. His imina (real personal name) was Yoshimitsu. This name was created by combining the character of 義, which was the tsuji (distinctive character used in the names of all people belonging to a single clan or lineage) of the Shogun family, and 満, which was the tsuji of the Shibukawa clan, and was given to Yoshimitsu as a henki (name including one character of the name of a shogun or a daimyo). His official rank was the Kunai-taifu (undersecretary of Imperial Household Ministry), Jugoi (Junior Fifth Rank). His father was Yoshimasa SHIBUKAWA, and his mother was a daughter of Hiromoto MORI. The Shibukawa family took charge of the Kyushu Tandai (local commissioner) for generations, and Yoshimitsu was called Ima-tandai (今探題).
The Shibukawa clan was a branch family of the Ashikaga clan, and additionally, the lawful wife of Yoshiakira ASHIKAGA, the second Shogun of the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), was from this clan. In addition to the Kira clan and the Shiba clan, they were also a distinguished clan among Ashikaga families who was treated as one of the Shogun families. His mother was a daughter of Hiromoto MORI, who lived in Aki Province, and she was a younger paternal half-sister of Motonari MORI. It is said that Yoshimitsu was under the protection of the Mori clan because of this family linkage, but there is no evidence that he was a vassal of the Mori clan, and he kept the family honor of a distinguished family as one of the Shogun families.
He died in 1573. The influence of the clan became weaker after his death, and his death can be said to have been the end of the Shibukawa clan as a distinguish clan. The "Geihan Tsushi" (general prefectural historical book of Aki Province) mentions a person named Shinemon as his son and the book says he became a farmer, but it is not certain whether it is true or not. His daughter went to the Reizei clan, who was a branch clan of the Ouchi clan (a former Shugo [provincial constable]) and was a vassal of the Mori family, through the intermediation of Terumoto MORI. She became the lawful wife of Motomitsu REIZEI, the second son of Takatoyo REIZEI.